For Sale by Owner
by bamboo72498
Summary: Set between 'Blowing Out a Wish' and 'Double Play.' The story of how the Castle family got their house.


** A/N: More at the end. Enjoy!**

**Disclamor: Not mine! Only the babies are mine.**

***Edit: Someone commented on a mistake i made and i fixed it. Thanks random citizen!**

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"Oh Castle, this place is amazing," Kate says as they pull into the driveway of their third house of the day. The other two were beautiful houses, Kate couldn't deny that, but they just weren't the _one._

Set in the middle of a cul-de-sac in a subdivision not too far out of the city, this house was painted sage green with white trim. It had a wide, ranch style driveway, a wraparound porch with a swing, and a large front yard with a small flower garden in front of the porch.

There were two parks close enough to the house to walk or ride bikes; which made Kate calmer knowing this was a kid friendly neighborhood.

"Come on, let's go check out the inside," Castle says un-clipping his seat belt and getting out of the car. Kate follows suit and meets him in front of the hood. She takes his hand and smiles; she doesn't know why, but the contact with him makes her feel more comfortable, confident.

It was a sunny, breezy Saturday in April. Kate was wearing a simple blue sundress that when the breeze blew over her bare shoulders and legs, it sent a chill up and down her spine.

They reach the front door and Castle rings the bell. It opens after a minute and they are met with the sunny smile of Castle's Realtor, Caroline.

"Hey Rick, Kate," Caroline says, accepting handshakes from the couple. She invites them inside and already Kate is in love.

The inside is even nicer than the out, if that's even possible. There are windows everywhere, letting in lots of sunlight and the cool spring breeze. The walls of the entry way are painted a sandy, brown color and the first thing they see are a set of stairs leading up to the second level and ending on a hallway that separates the two halves of the second story in two. The landing also ha a balcony looking onto the great room.

"Should we start?" Caroline asks. Rick and Kate nod and the real-estate agent leads them left and into the living room. There is a wide bay window with a bench seat under it; the bench has cabinets under it. It's a large room which the family who currently occupies the house has set up a small seating area and a black, upright piano. On the opposite side of the wall the main staircase is on is a door leading to the basement.

"This room is pretty self-explanatory," Caroline smiles. "The floors were replaced about two years ago as was the cushion on the window seat," she says as Rick and Kate wander around the room, looking at it from different angles. "Do you want to look at the basement now or come back to it?"

"Let's finish this floor then do the basement and finish with the upstairs," Castle says, looking to Kate, who nods.

"Alright then, come this way," Caroline leads them out of the front room and into a long hallway, bi-secting the two halves of the main floor. To the right Kate can see the family room and kitchen and more windows, to the left she sees another open door and more sunlight.

Caroline leads them left first. She stops in front of the open door, which Rick sees is an office space, but turns left to a closed door. "This is a half bathroom; there is one up here the three full bathrooms upstairs," she explains.

Rick passes the Realtor and opens the bathroom door. It's a simple bathroom with a toilet and sink, plain white counters, light fixtures built into the ceiling and cabinets under the sink. He turns off the light and goes into the office, the girls following him.

There is one long window opposite the door and a small closet in the lower left corner. Other than that there is a lot of wall space and an average amount of floor space. He's making mental measurements, trying to see if his office furniture could fit in here.

"Penny for your thoughts, Castle?" Kate asks, noticing her husband's thoughtful look at the room and how he's using his hand to measure the room.

"No, I'm good," he turns and smiles. She shakes her head and follows him and Caroline out of the room and back down the hall.

So far Kate is pleased with this house. It has big rooms; a lot of windows that let in natural light and even an office that she could tell Castle took an instant liking too.

She follows the hallway and looks into the wide great room when the wall ends. It's two stories with a sloping ceiling, all of the walls in this area, even in the kitchen are painted a pale purple-blue. To the left is a small fireplace with empty wall space on both sides. The sitting area in the middle divides the family room from the kitchen-breakfast area. There are windows all long the back wall, broken only by a sliding glass door leading to the back yard.

Kate crosses the room, making a beeline for the yard. She opens the door and steps out onto the deck. There is an outdoor seating area, a grill and bar height table and chairs on one end and a hot tub on the other. The back yard is large with lots of grass, a swing set and a trampoline hidden in a corner; a wide open play space that Kate can see her kids playing in during the summer or building snowmen and having snowball fights in the winter. She smiles to herself, and feels Castle's hands on her shoulders. He wraps his hands around her collarbone and brings her flush against his body.

"It's nice huh?" he asks. She hums a reply, still smiling. This house is getting more and more perfect with every room she sees.

"Come on, let's go see the rest. Caroline might start to worry we fell down a rabbit hole or something," he says turning them both around to face the door and living room.

They walk in, holding hands again and look around the kitchen. More windows, a circular table that sits opposite a curved bar height counter.

"The appliances in the kitchen are just over six years old, so they still have some life in them," Caroline says, directing Castle and Beckett's attention to the other half of the room. The counters are dark grey granite and the other side of the bar is counter space with lots of drawers and cabinets. Along the back wall are floating cabinets that end and start up again around a smaller window over the sink. There are more drawers and cabinets under and next to the sink. The stove-oven combination, black French door fridge, and the large pantry sit on the same wall.

They don't even own the house, but Kate can see her kids sitting at the bar, rushing to eat breakfast before their school bus arrives or making pitchers of lemonade for their summer parties with friends.

She's sold.

Across the hall is a red wine painted formal dining room. Surprisingly there are no windows in this room, but the chandelier hanging from the ceiling provides more than enough light for people to see. The hardwood flooring continues in this room, with a rug under the table.

Caddy corner from the kitchen is the mud room leading into and out of the garage. It's a small room with cabinets and a built in bench seat. Out the door are three wooden steps leading outside to the three car garage; more than enough space to hold cars and bikes and toys and all the other miscellaneous things a garage can accumulate. A side door in the garage leads to the backyard, right behind a latched gate.

Caroline leads them back inside and down the hall to the last room on the floor. it's just a laundry room: Washer, dryer, industrial sink, table along one wall, cabinets for storing detergent and such; nothing to get all choked up about.

That's not what makes Kate gasp when she walks into the room. Not the things inside or the windows looking over the backyard or even the forgotten baby doll the family who currently lives there must have left out by mistake when they left before Rick and Kate got there.

No. It's what was written in pencil and different colored makers on the wall behind the door.

_Hannah, age 3_

_Aaden age 5_

_Leah, six months._

It was a handmade growth chart. It chronicled the three kids growth from when they were little ones until the most recent at ages fifteen, thirteen and nine respectively.

Something as simple as pencil marks on an empty wall made this house: four walls, a roof, some doors; into a home. Three kids lived here; they grew up here. Probably learning to ride bikes in the street out front, leaving for their first day of school from the driveway, taking pictures before their first high school homecoming dance on the stairs.

Kate realizes right then and there that this was what she wanted for her kids. She wanted them growing up in a neighborhood with friends coming over every day after school and sleeping over on the weekends. She wanted to watch Castle teach them to ride a bike with no training wheels and to have him stand by the front widows until his girls came home from their first date with a boy. She wanted to establish these routines and rituals and traditions in a home; not a New York apartment.

"Kate? Kate," Castle says, trying to get his wife's attention. She had gotten lost in her own little world, a million miles away. Kate finally notices him, turns and rushes into him, hugging him tight. She holds onto his shoulder blades and breathes in the smell of his shirt, standing there for a few long moments. She looks up at him after a while, her hazel eyes, turned brown in the light, shining right at his blue ones.

"What was that for?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and leading her out of the room and down the hall.

"I just love you," she said. He huffs out a laugh and kisses the top of her head.

"I love you too."

They follow Caroline down the stairs in the front room to the basement. It takes up the same area as the first floor, and was just as split off into different rooms. The current family had hung a rope swing from a clip in the ceiling and there was a stack of colored mats in the corner, the top one had hand and feet prints to teach proper placement for a cartwheel.

"The older girl who lives here is big into gymnastics and tumbling," Caroline explains, nodding towards the mats. She leads them down a short hall with three more doors.

Taped to one was a handwritten sign that read: _Dogs' room; do NOT open_.

"They have three dogs total living here," Caroline says, "A Beagle, a Labrador and a terrier."

"They're taking them when they leave, right?" Castle asks about the family. Not that he doesn't want to get a dog for the kids, but right now isn't the time.

"Oh yes, of course they are," Caroline laughs, "We needed a place to put the bigger two when the family leaves all day. It's just another storage closet," Caroline explains, tapping on the door.

Kate can hear the dogs scratching on the door and follows Castle and the agent away from the door, hoping they would stop.

The next door leads them into a fully done home gym: wood floors, mirrors hung up on one wall, a stereo system hidden behind a corner cabinet and a TV hung from the ceiling in one corner. It's a nice room and Kate can tell it gets a lot of use.

The back room is un-finished, unlike the other parts of the basement, more storage space and the water heater and other utilities are kept here.

[] []

Back up two flights of stairs, Castle and Beckett split off from the realtor to explore the final areas of the house. They turn left first, saving the master bedroom for last.

The first of the three 'kids' rooms is on the left as they walk down the hall; closest to the stairs. It's clear a boy lives in this room what with all the sport paraphernalia and posters on the walls. It has one lone window, a walk-in closet and an en-suite bathroom: A simple single sink vanity, a toilet and a shower/tub combination; perfect for a, now, teenage boy.

They leave that room and go further down the hall, passing a linen closet, until the hallway splits off again. They turn right and end up in the second room. In comparison to the others, it's the largest. Slightly 'L' shaped with another bay window with a bench seat. There is a walk-in closet, same as the boys' room, right next to a larger en-suite bathroom. There is another single window in a corner by the bathroom. The large bedroom and the one next to it are connected by the bathroom: two sinks, more cabinets, a toilet, and separate shower and bathtub.

Rick and Kate cross through to the last bedroom. It's by far the smallest of the three, about the size Kate's bedroom was at her old Tribeca apartment. Two windows that face the front yard and a simple sliding door closet complete the room. There isn't a lot of floor space, but the girl who lives here, probably the younger of the two in the family, has made great use of the space; somehow fitting in a bed, dresser, bookcase and a fabric director's chair. Posters of Broadway shows and dancers cover the walls and a cork board over the bed is filled with play bills and ticket stubs from shows the girl has seen, there is even pictures from the plays and musicals she's been in.

Kate smiles; she can't wait until her kids are old enough to hang up cork boards and pin up pictures and special things in their rooms.

"Come on, "Castle says leading Kate out of the room and down the hallway, "I want to show you why I fell in love with this place.

On the opposite side of the house, at the end of the hall is the final bedroom. It's a little bit bigger than the master bedroom at the loft. Three windows look over the back and side yard and two French doors lead out to a small balcony over the side yard; it's hidden by trees, but still able to see the sunsets.

"Oh Castle," Kate gasps as she walks in. The room is painted a pale blue and the fluffy off-white carpet is just the sort of thing you want to squish your feet into on cool summer nights. The room flows into a large bathroom: Two sinks, cabinets, storage closets, a large Jacuzzi tub and shower. The giant walk-in closet sits off the bathroom and has more than enough shelf space to hold Kate's large shoe collection.

"Do you like it?" Castle asks, his voice echoing in the bathroom as he watches Kate take everything in their room in.

"I love it," she breaths, she eyes just as wide as her smile.

[] []

"What are you thinking?" Castle asks as they drive home after their house tour. He looks over at Kate, who is chewing on her finger nail. She's silent a minute more before she speaks.

"I think we should get the house; or at least put an offer out there."

"You do?' He asks, not surprised, he could tell Kate instantly loved the house, just caught off guard. He would have thought she would need at least a day to think it over before making a decision.

"Yes, I do. I love that house; I can see us living there, just like that family who lives there now. I don't want to wait and miss out on this; it's perfect."

He takes his eyes off the road for a second and looks at her.

She's serious about this.

"Are you sure?" he asks again, annunciating every word just to make sure Kate heard him right.

"I'm sure. Look if we don't do it now, something will come up that will make us doubt ourselves, let's just do it."

He nods. "Alright, if you're sure. We're almost home, when we get their I'll call Caroline and tell her we want to put an off on the house." She smiles and leans over to kiss his cheek.

When they get home, after pushing through the flood of five fourteen month old kids, Castle breaks off for his office, and closes the door to keep babbling babes out.

"Daddy has an important phone call to make," Kate tells Austin who is in her arms as they move to play with toys. "He's trying to buy us a house."

"'Ouse?" Austin asks, looking at his mom quizzically.

"Yea a new house; it has a backyard and isn't in the city so I feel safer let you guys play outside," she says setting Austin back on the ground and grabbing one of his trucks. She rolls in one the floor then up his leg and torso, making him giggle.

Castle comes out of his office a while later and Kate looks up from her spot on the floor.

"So? What did she say?" she asks as he crosses the room and takes a seat on the couch.

"She said she had two more showings on the house, but so far we are the only ones who have put out a serious offer on it."

Kate lets out a breath. That's good; it means they have a good chance of getting that house, assuming the other two families don't out bid them.

[] []

Two weeks later as Kate walks through the loft's front door she's hit with the sound of multiple voices shouting 'Momma!' at her. She puts away her coat, badge and gun and walks further into the large great room. Her five kids are sitting at the table, ready to eat dinner that their dad is just finishing putting onto plates.

"Hey babe," Kate says to Castle, coming around the counter and kissing his cheek from behind and moving to the fridge.

"Hey momma, how was work?" Castle asks, bringing the plates over to the five hungry kids.

"It went well. This case is just dragging on though," she sighs, bringing her drink over to the table and kissing her kids as she goes to her seat.

"No new leads, huh?"

"Nothing. It's like everything has just disappeared into thin air."

"I'm sure you'll find something soon. Are you ready to eat?" he asks, getting ready to fill her plate.

"Starving. What did you make?"

"Shrimp with angel hair pasta," he says spooning some of the pasta slathered in the buttery, garlic sauce onto a plate for Kate.

"Oh? What's the special occasion?" she asks, standing to take the plate from him over the counter.

"Why does their have to be an occasion?"

"Come on Castle, you know you only make this stuff when something big has happened or you did something wrong. So I'm asking again, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! Can't a man make a favorite pasta dish for his wife and kids on a Thursday night without getting the Spanish Inquisition?"

"I suppose they could, but something is going on here," Kate says, giving Castle one of her looks. He doesn't answer as he moves around the counter with his own plate of food. He's seated at his place at the table, and is moving to set his plate down, but stops short and sets his plate away from him instead.

"See, I was just about to set my food down on top of this and have it at risk of getting messy from my dinner; and I would hate for that to happen," he says scooting a serious looking manila envelope over to Kate before picking up his plate and setting it in its proper place.

"What's that?" Kate asks, bringing a bite to her mouth, slurping the ends of the noodles into her mouth.

"Open it and look for yourself," Castle says, that all knowing, mischievous, slightly annoying smirk over his face.

Kate sets down her fork, wipes her hands and face on a napkin and picks up the envelope. She un-hooks the brad holding it closed and slips put the stack of papers inside. She reads the papers silent for a moment, studying every line as if it were vital information for a murder investigation.

When she's done, Kate looks up and Castle, smiling. His eyes sparkle and he's smiling too, and he reaches over takes the envelope and papers and sets them on the bar counter behind them; out of the way of food and little baby fingers.

"We got it," she whispers, taking Castle's hand.

"We got it," he echoes, squeezing their hands and leaning over, stealing a kiss from his wife. "We'll have to go in and sign paperwork on Monday, but other than that, it's ours," he says, going back to eating.

Miyana squeals and smiles, giving her parents a ham face, as if she completely understood the conversation that just happened.

"Are you excited, Mia?" Kate asks, reaching over and wiping her daughter's face, tickling under her chin, making the girl giggle.

"Me too," Kate smiles.

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**A/N: Well, what did you think? Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors; i tried my best to fix any i saw. It's not done, i'm thinking of doing one or two more chapters, we'll see.**

**I'm making a Pintrest board of what i think the house looked like before they moved in and i'll link it in my profile when it's done.**

**Alright, that's all for now!**


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